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Michelle Obama is well known for discovering and supporting up-and-coming designers from a variety of backgrounds and cultural influences and bringing them to prominence. From Taiwanese-Canadian Jason Wu to Finnish Teija Eilola to Nigerian Maki Oh, the former First Lady has placed a number of designers on the world stage and catapulted their careers forward.…

By Helen Frazier Less than one month ago, my sister and I traveled to the continent of Africa and visited the nations of Liberia and Ghana. Since this was my first trip visiting the “motherland”, I had no idea that it would take my sister’s knowledge after visiting twice per year for 15 years to…

“I love you, that’s why I beat you.” So ends a poem by the Ghanaian writer Mariska Araba Taylor-Darko about a violent spouse and an abused woman who lays the blame of the daily beating on herself. The poem, “A Beating for Love,” takes special significance this week as many around the world mark the…

By Samixchha Raut, Rochester Institute of Technology Eight years ago, I lived in Goldhap, a refugee camp in Nepal, where more than 7,000 people reside in just over 1200 households, without running water or electricity. Today, I’m 22, a senior at Rochester Institute of Technology, majoring in Biomedical Science and on a path to achieve…

Depositors may want to steer clear of banking in Ghana while over a dozen bank officers and shareholders face claims they lent themselves millions of dollars but failed to repay. Business Ghana, a local news outlet, reported that 13 shareholders and directors of the defunct Capital Bank Ghana Limited and UT Bank engaged in acts…

By Lauren Poteat, NNPA Washington Correspondent Changing the way people view the country of Jamaica and its rich culture, one dancehall queen is breaking cultural barriers with her organization’s first ever international Wan Move Diaspora Experience (WMDE) Conference and festival. When Moiika Stanley, founder of the Compton, California-based entertainment law firm, “Wan Move,” decided to…

Imamu Amiri Baraka’s Pan-African manifesto It’s Nation Time — African Visionary Music, out of print since 1972, is available once again via Motown/UMe. The spoken-word jazz album, originally released on Motown Records’ Black Forum subsidiary, has been repressed on 150g black vinyl with tip-on jacket in a faithful reproduction of the original packaging. A poet,…

As election day nears in the troubled Democratic Republic of the Congo, the seven leaders of the opposition seemed settled on one person to challenge the handpicked candidate of President Joseph Kabila – but differences unexpectedly arose. The agreement to back Congolese lawmaker Martin Fayulu Madidi, facilitated by the Kofi Annan Foundation after three days…

At a gathering of world leaders in the French capital of Paris, singer-songwriter Angelique Kidjo reprised an hypnotic work of ethereal beauty by a youthful West African singer. With a repertoire of just 17 songs, the diva, Bella Bellow, had won the hearts of presidents, accomplished artists and worldwide fans. Kidjo’s choice of Blewu (“Patience”)…

Forced labor tolerated by the Mauritanian government was called a decisive factor in the U.S. decision this week to end favored nation trade status for the country as of January 1. “Forced or compulsory labor practices like hereditary slavery have no place in the 21st century,” said Deputy U.S. Trade Representative C.J. Mahoney. “This action…

By Marc Morial (TriceEdneyWire.com) – “The U.S. “war on drugs” — a decades-long policy of racial and class suppression hidden behind cannabis criminality — has resulted in the arrest, interdiction, and incarceration of a high percentage of Americans of color. The legal cannabis industry represents a great opportunity to help balance the detrimental effects of…

By Marian Wright Edelman I’ve never forgotten my family’s sadness over the senseless death of my childhood neighbor little Johnny Harrington, who lived three houses down from our church parsonage in segregated Bennettsville, South Carolina. Johnny stepped on a rusted nail and died of the resulting tetanus infection because his hard-working grandmother had no doctor…

By Linda Goler Blount, MPH, President and CEO, Black Women’s Health Imperative The cost of insulin is skyrocketing and people—especially Black women—are dying because they cannot afford or don’t have access to vital medication. There is not enough being done to lower the prices of prescription medications that could mean life or death for so…

By Charlene Crowell, Communications Deputy Director with the Center for Responsible Lending In recent years, the spate of homicides linked to questionable uses of deadly weapons and/or force, have prompted many activist organizations to call for racial reparations. From Trayvon Martin’s death in Florida, to Michael Brown’s in Missouri, Eric Garner’s in New York and…

By Jesse Jackson (TriceEdneyWire.com) – South Carolina’s James Louis Petigru was a Civil War-era lawyer, judge, congressman and most notably the attorney general who opposed South Carolina’s use of nullification of federal laws and, after Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, opposed state secession. He famously quipped, after learning that his state had seceded…

By Dr. E. Faye Williams (TriceEdneyWire.com) – If you truly want to make America great, you must turn down Trump’s help to divide us. We were working toward being a better America for all before Trump became President. America was never her greatest for our Native American brothers and sisters, nor for much of America’s diverse…

By Hakim Abdul-Ali Black History Month is in full swing across the United States of America. It’s a grand time to reflect upon the past and present ebony heroes and sheroes of the world for all that they accomplished and achieved in the throes of injustices and discriminations galore. I’m a humbly proud brother of…

By Beverly Gadson-Birch Several months ago, during the Governor’s mandatory hurricane evacuation, I flew the coop and landed in Atlanta to hunker down out of harm’s way. I had the rare opportunity of running into one of my long-lost cousins who had relocated to the Atlanta area from Atlantic City, New Jersey. As we sat…

By Barney Blakeney I recently had the distinct honor of participating in a panel discussion on racial disparities in Charleston County as part of a Black History Month program put on by the Town of Mount Pleasant Historical Commission at Friendship AME Church in Mount Pleasant. But the distinction was bittersweet. Being asked to participate…

By Hakim Abdul-Ali Greetings of peace to you on this amazing day, and we know by now that it’s that time of the year again when the annual Black History Month begins in the United States of America. No doubt about it, it’s a continuing celebration of and about Black struggles, triumphs, achievements, endurances and,…

By Beverly Gadson-Birch I recall writing an article about a decade ago entitled “Are We Coming Or Going?” and it got me thinking about the state of education in Charleston County. The more meetings I attend the more things remain the same. I find myself questioning whether we are coming or going because after 50…

By Barney Blakeney A few years ago I lived near the first location of the Meeting Street Academy School on King Street. The school was across the street from my house. Each weekday morning I was awakened by the sound of children playing before classes began. It was a joyful sound. Them lil sapsuckers would…

By Brother Earl Muhammad, Chairman, Lowcountry Education Many of us have read newspaper articles or assessments from prominent educators or heard via news and social media about the disparities in the distribution of resources in regards to either financial support, school supplies and learning tools or educators, from one district to another within the Charleston County…

Submitted by Jesse Williams, Rep. Marvin Pendarvis & Dr. Carol Tempel When voting to build a new Center for Advanced Studies at North Charleston High School, instead of Garrett Academy of Technology, board members added that they would continue to invest in improving the quality of education at Garrett. In order to hold the school…

Barney Blakeney made a statement with his subject and article two weeks ago about the College of Charleston – Avery Research Center’s Disparities report about various inequities and/or injustices between the quality of life for individuals within the African American community and various other ethnic groups with special emphasis on the white community. He wrote,…

By Professor Damon L. Fordham, MA The following is the text of a speech given by Professor Fordham at the rally regarding the appearance of former Trump Administration Chief Strategist Steve Bannon at The Citadel on Thursday, November 9, 2017. It is reprinted here to inform the general public as to what Mr. Bannon represents.…

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